On Saturday 07 August 2004 09:33 am, robin fell wrote:
Last Friday 06
August 2004 03:01, Russell Hanaghan was like:
> I need to stretch my wings a little and try something outside of
> Mandrake 10.0...
>
> Can I get some basic pros and cons of the different distro's you're
> using? And especially from previous Mandrake users.
I gave up with Mandrake at 8.0. It was OK(ish), but I have a nasty
habit of breaking _anything_ based on RPM.
Tried Planet, but based on RH meant endless RPM database woes for me :(
Ended up on Gentoo, but I can't really recommend it for general use by
others;
cons
1. easy to select configurations (via USE flags) that break your system
2. easy to select (via USE flags) configurations that _nearly_ work :(
3. takes ages to compile things from source, with little real benefit
4. fills your HD with source code (minor niggle really)
pros
1. i've not managed to break portage yet. this is numero-uno for me
because i killed MDK and RH several times - requiring a reinstall [note:
yes i do know about rpm dB locks and dB repair tools, but they failed to
fix my dB]
2. you choose how much cruft you want to install
3. 'portage' and dependency managment :)
4. package list is up-to-date
5. 'feels' more amenable to source installation of 'other' things -
probably because it hasn't been 'customised' to suit the whims of a
particular distro. I daresay distros may have standardised a little
more now.
I'm currently considering a change of distro too - I spend too long on
admin issues, and not enough time hacking/recording. Debian looks
interesting, but i need to find out how robust the underlying dB is
first...
I don't recall ever hearing anybody wedging the package management
system. I've seen rpm break on RH, not on SuSE.
Debian cons:
1) Packages are split up way too finely, but I don't build embedded systems.
2) RH experience doesn't translate well (really a RH con)
3) All those little "they really need a utility for this" utilities actually
exist, but you have to look in the policy manual to find out.
Pros:
1) Package management is superb
2) A smooth upgrade path is high priority
3) After armageddon, the Dodge Dart driving cockroaches will still be running
Debian
good luck
R